As Albus waved goodbye to his parents and his little sister, tears sparkling in her hazel eyes, still on Platform nine and three-quarters, he felt a mixture of anxiety and excitement. It was a new beginning, and from the tales his parents, aunts and uncles had told, it would be some of the best times of his life. However, he was anxious. The thought of making new friends and learning new magic scared Albus somewhat. What if he was no good? What if no one liked him? He supposed that many had these fears, although he was certain his brother James never had. James Potter exuded an air of arrogance and a calm that Albus could never replicate. Albus was more reserved and inhibited. Not to say that he wasn’t a friendly boy, he was just more level-headed and cautious concerning certain situations. However, upon his arrival at Hogwarts, he would find that this would all have to change.
Albus sighed as he lost sight of his family and looked around to find himself nearly alone apart from a couple of other new students wandering around in an effort to find their own carriage. Albus knew his brother James would be with his fellow third years, and the rest of the students would have found their own carriages by now. He resolved to go and find one of the more empty ones with people who looked as lost as he felt. After inspecting the first two carriages to find a group of burly looking seventh years chomping on some chocolate frogs and a giggling gaggle of fourth year girls who stopped to stare at him as he passed (apparently the resemblance to his famous father did not go unnoticed), he was about to arrive at the third when he heard a voice call out from a couple of doors away.
“Al, where’ve you been? I must have lost you in the crowd!” Albus looked up to the source of the invitation. It came in the form of his cousin and best friend, Rose Weasley. They had attended the same Muggle primary school and had spent many weekends and holidays together throughout the years. They were more like siblings than cousins. She smiled up at him as he approached, her face framed by her smooth auburn waves.
“Come in, look who I found!” Her blue eyes lit up as she ushered him into their compartment. Albus let the door close behind him as he surveyed the group gathered in the booth.
He was surprised to see a couple of familiar faces.
“Diana! Polly! Frank! I didn’t see you on the platform! How are you?” Albus asked smilingly. Diana and Polly beamed back at him with identical grins, unmistakably similar to their father, and family friend, Dean Thomas. Frank greeted him with a pat on the back. He had always got on well with Frank, the youngest of the Longbottom children, and to see him now calmed him. He did not, however, recognise the other two figures in the room. One, a small, sandy haired girl with petite features who seemed to be familiar with the twins, smiled apprehensively at him. The other gave a curt wave in acknowledgment of his presence before returning to her copy of the Daily Prophet. She had a tumbling cascade of ebony locks with alabaster skin and azure eyes. She was visually perfect. She was also perfectly unfriendly.
“Hi, I’m Cliona Finnigan.” The sandy-haired girl’s soft Irish tones brought Albus out of his reverie. He met her timid hazel eyes and smiled. “I’m Seamus’ daughter. He was a friend of Harry’s I think “ your dad I mean.” Albus nodded, he had heard many times from his father about his fellow Gryffindors who had helped him in the final battle against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. He sat down on the seat next to Frank, the only seat left available in the carriage (the eighth was taken by the twins’ cat, Bast). It was also the seat opposite the black haired girl, who removed her feet from the seat that Albus now occupied, but did not look up. He attempted to engage her in conversation.
“Hey, I’m Albus Potter; I don’t think we’ve met before.” The girl glanced up from over her copy of the Daily Prophet with dull eyes. Albus immediately regretted his decision to speak. The girl closed the paper, keeping her finger inside to keep her place. She looked at him expressionlessly before speaking.
“No, you wouldn’t have. I’m Muggle-born. But I know who you are, Mr Potter. Your family is mentioned in a revised History of Magic.” Albus blushed at this. James had warned him from previous experience that there would be those who gawp at or frequently mention, either scathingly or in awe, his famous family. But this girl sounded neither impressed nor scathing. She was merely stating it as fact. It unnerved Albus, but interested him at the same time.
He looked furtively towards Frank who shrugged before piping up, “This is Elizabeth Hunter. Albus and I knew each other cause of our parents, same with Diana and Apollonia.” One of the wide-eyed twins shot him a dark look causing him to grimace apologetically. “Sorry, Polly. And Rose and Albus are cousins.” This news did not appear to surprise Elizabeth who merely nodded and gestured to a pristine looking book on the floor.
“Yes, I read. The daughter of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. You too are in the revised edition of A History of Magic.” They all stared at her in vague surprise. This prompted her first smile, which Albus had seen at least. It was radiant while it lasted but fleeting at the same time.
“I was trying to catch up. I’ve missed out on eleven years of all this...I don’t want to get left behind.” She paused for moment, before adding, “And I prefer Effie by the way. Only my grandma calls me Elizabeth.” Albus smiled at her kindly.
“Well, Effie, you probably know more than I do already, if you’ve read all of that.” She didn’t smile, but her eyes softened as she looked at him, shaking her head slightly before saying;
“Books can’t teach you everything. I haven’t experienced any magic, been around any. That’s what I’m worried about.” Rose shook her head, clearing her mouth of the remainder of her pumpkin pasty before speaking.
“We haven’t performed any magic, we can’t of course. We’ve only seen it, and that doesn’t really help. You won’t be behind at all, don’t worry,” Rose spoke soothingly and Effie appeared to look a little better for it. Apollonia, or Polly, as she preferred, turned to Effie inquiringly, her hazel eyes peeping out from a mass of caramel curls.
“How did you find out you were a witch?” Polly asked curiously. Effie appeared taken aback so Diana interjected.
“Our father was brought up by his Muggle mother, and he found out when grandma hid the remote control to his toy car on the top shelf of the cupboard and he levitated to get it back. They couldn’t get him down for hours! I think it was quite a shock. It all made sense though when he received the letter from Hogwarts.” Polly and her sister both smiled at this, but they were not joined by Effie, who instead glowered straight at Albus for a moment before looking away abashedly.
“I found out...when I got really angry at my mother and...I, accidentally, set my room on fire.” They all looked at each other for a few moments before bursting out laughing. Effie looked round at them, confused and her face gradually turning a deeper shade of crimson, a contrast to her usual pallid complexion. “It’s not funny!” They tried to repress their giggles, but failed. Effie allowed a small smile before reiterating her previous sentiments, “It’s not!” Frank waved a hand in dismissal of her claims.
“Don’t worry, I’ve done that before, and so has Rose. It’s perfectly normal when you’re starting out, because our magic’s tied to our emotions at that stage. Setting your entire room on fire though, that’s impressive.” He grinned at her and she returned it sheepishly. She set her Daily Prophet aside and glanced back at Albus, who met her gaze keenly. He extended his hand which contained a box of Bertie Botts’ Every-Flavoured Beans. He looked down at them and back up to her slightly suspicious face. He chortled, amused by her apprehension.
“They’re not poisonous you know. They’re like...I think Muggles call them, Jelly Beans? My dad bought them for us once. They’re not as exciting as these though. You don’t know what flavour you’re going to get: butterscotch, banoffee, haggis, earwax, tripe. They have them all!” She retracted her hand, wrinkling her nose in distaste. He smirked and he understood why. Although it was fun to guess whether you were getting a pleasant surprise or an unpleasant one, the latter were not kind to the taste buds.
He leant back and started slightly when Bast jumped on his lap. The Egyptian Mau stared up at him with large yellow eyes and emitted a squawk-like meow to indicate its desire for affection. Albus obliged unenthusiastically as he knew this would mean he would not be left alone for the remainder of the journey.
He was just about to ask Diana or Polly, who were singing along to the new Veela Vocals song ‘I’ve Got You Under My Spell’ on their portable wireless, to take Bast off his hands when the door to their compartment was flung open.
“What on earth is all this racket about then? Are we going to have a bunch of trouble-makers on our hands?” The tone was one of mock chastisement and came in the form of Albus’ brother, James Potter. He cast his eyes over the room with a sort of puckish grin, lingering over Effie for a few moments before entering the carriage, flanked by two of his good friends. The taller of the two Albus knew very well as his cousin Louis Weasley, the youngest child of Uncle Bill and his wife Fleur. He had a pale complexion with delicate, beautiful features, bronze hair and exquisite cerulean eyes. The other was a girl, Persephone Cora, who Albus was also familiar with as she had visited the Potters’ home in Godric’s Hollow several times before. She had sparkling emerald eyes and platinum blonde hair with small rose-bud lips and a dainty nose. She gave them a glowing smile and placed her hand on James’ shoulder, looking directly at Albus.
“Your brother, Albus,” she glanced amusedly at James and brought her eyes back to Albus, “thinks he’s very hilarious.” James feigned shock and hurt at her words, taking a step back for dramatic emphasis.
“’Thinks?!’ Thinking has nothing to do with it love, it’s pure fact,” James replied with defiance, a smile playing on his lips. Persephone merely rolled her eyes and gazed round the now very full carriage.
“Sorry for bursting in on all of you, James, Louis and I just wanted to check how you were all getting on. Although, I’m afraid I don’t recognise all of you...” She looked searchingly at the various Weasley and Potter cousins who occupied the carriage, and it was Louis who gladly offered the explanation.
“Well obviously you know my cousins Albus and Rose. And these are their friends Frank Longbottom, Diana and Apollonia “ Polly, sorry “ Thomas. I’m afraid I’m not familiar with you two.” He smiled kindly but curiously at Cliona and Effie, both of whom Albus promptly introduced.
“This is Cliona Finnigan, daughter of Seamus Finnigan.” He looked to James, “dad’s spoken about him before.” James nodded with comprehension and gave a casual wave before focusing his full attention on the sable-locked girl sitting in the corner. “And this,” Albus continued, “is Effie Hunter.” He gestured to the three older pupils standing in their compartment. “This is my brother James Potter. And yes, he’s always this wonderful.” James gave Albus a withering look at this but Albus ignored him and merely carried on. “This is our cousin Louis Weasley and their friend Persephone Cora.” They smiled at their introductions, but it was James who first spoke.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Again, Albus noticed his eyes linger on Effie. He couldn’t be sure though, as, before he knew it, James’ eyes were back on Persephone. “Persie, do you know where Alphie and Conall have got to?” Alphard Grey and Conall Wolcott were two of James’ best friends. Alphard, or Alphie as he favoured, was just like James, only slightly better at it. Conall was somewhat more serious, but still indulged them in their juvenile ways.
Persephone shook her head in response to his question. “No doubt causing some sort of trouble. I heard someone had let a Niffler loose on board. If that’s true, I bet it was Alphie. Seems like the sort of stunt he’d pull.” Louis however looked panicked and shook his head rapidly from side to side.
“Nope, I’m fairly sure it wasn’t Alphie.” Persephone looked at him with a mixture of curious amusement and exasperation.
“And how would you know that then?” Louis said nothing. His shifty attitude however said it all. Persephone rolled her eyes. Albus thought that he must have seen her do that in reference to his brother and his friends so many times, he was surprised her eyes weren’t stuck that way. “Of course,” she said exhaling, “well then, we better go get it back. Honestly, having an uncle who’s one of the world’s leading magical creature experts, you would’ve have thought you’d know better.”
Although her words sounded disapproving, her tone was light and her expression gentle. It wasn’t unusual for Louis to pull stunts such as these. He was one of the brightest students in his year, but felt the need to rebel against the achievements of his older sisters and parents by following James’ wayward example.
Persephone turned to the younger students. “Have a good remainder of your journey. Be thankful you’re not Niffler hunting!” Rose chuckled lightly and thanked her. Persie and Louis waved goodbye and exited the carriage. James was about to follow them when he turned back to the group.
“Goodbye all, nice to meet some new faces.” His eyes flicked to Effie, then back to Albus. “See you at the sorting little brother! Don’t worry, it’ll feel like a breeze after the swim across the lake.” With that final comment and a grin, he departed.
Effie however, was not smiling. “We have to SWIM across the lake?” Cliona, Frank and the twins too appeared a little ill at ease. Although, Albus knew their parents too will have told them the Hogwart’s tradition of first years going in boats.
Rose snorted. “Don’t worry, that was just James being...James. You’ll get used to it. First years get ferried across on boats.” Effie exhaled with relief and looked darkly at the door James had just disappeared out of.
They passed much of the rest of the journey in pleasant conversation with Frank making the odd ridiculous joke that everybody laughed at and Effie becoming more comfortable with the rest of the group. Albus could see her visibly relax and he was pleased as he found her to be charismatic and her paranoia about being left behind endearing. Even the small Irish girl, Cliona, appeared more at ease, although she remained the quietest of the group. Hours passed until their comfortable conversation was interrupted by Rose’s abrupt start.
“Wow, I wasn’t paying attention! We’re nearly at Hogwarts and you haven’t changed into your robes.” Albus looked out of the window and saw that she was right. Not altogether too far in the distance Albus spotted the illuminated imposing turrets of Hogwarts school looming atop a hill and poking out from between the tall yew trees. At that moment all he could think of was how he couldn’t wait to be on the other side of that lake. He was instantly consumed by the thought of the magic and adventure he would experience there. He didn’t know how long he stared at that magnificent sight for, but the next thing he knew, he was being nudged by Rose and stared at by six other fully robed first years before being informed that they were five minutes away from their destination. Albus hurriedly brushed Bast off his lap and searched through his bag, putting on his robes just in time as the Hogwart’s Express pulled into the station and its eager students flooded the platform gleefully, home at last.
Albus Potter and the Midnight Thief by Alice Mac
Chapter Endnotes: Thanks so much for reading! It's my first fic so any feedback would be more than welcome!